China’s demand for gold rose in the third quarter as a hedge against inflation and on expectation of strong returns from the stock market, the World Gold Council said yesterday.

Gold demand this year is expected to hit a record, the gold advocate said. Gold demand in China, including the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, rose 24 percent in the third quarter to 88.1 tons, the World Gold Council said.

Mainland gold demand rose 25 percent to 78.9 tons in the three months ending in September. Gold jewelry demand rose 24 percent in the period to 74.8 tons, while investment gold demand rose 43 percent to 4.1 tons on China’s mainland in the third quarter. Read Full Story

A record price of $1,223,250 dollars has been paid by The Rare Coin Company for an Australian 1924 George V One Thousand Pound banknote. The banknote was sold by Nobles Numismatics at auction in Sydney on Thursday 22nd November 2007 and was subject to intense competition by both private and commercial bidders.

The banknote is the only known thousand pound note in private hands and it was last sold at auction in November 1998 where it realized $86,000. Controversy surrounded the note’s purchase at this time, where it was seized by the Federal Police after the Reserve Bank of Australian claimed ownership, which the Bank later relinquished.

The Rare Coin Company’s purchase of this highly important numismatic item represents a significant milestone for the Australian Numismatic Industry, this being only the second known time in Australia’s history that the $1 million dollar price barrier has ever been reached for a single item.

Company Director Robert Jackman said the record price paid for the £1,000 note purchase coincided with the Company’s 25th Anniversary Year, demonstrating its continuing commitment to providing its clients with only the highest quality numismatic rarities.

“As one of Australia’s leading numismatic specialists, we are thrilled to secure such an important numismatic rarity as we believe that through our many years experience we are able to direct clients as to the areas with the best investment potential,” he said. (more…)

Canada’s taxman is going to start checking out EBay sellers, including those who sell coins, to make sure that the government is getting its piece of the pie.

According to a Globe and Mail article, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) won a federal court order requiring EBay to turn over the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of high-volume, so-called “power sellers” who use the site.

According to papers filed with the court, the CRA wants to ensure that transactions from 2004 and 2005 were reported, so that income tax could be paid. Power-seller levels start at bronze, for $1,000 US a month, and move up through five levels.

It is estimated that Canadians spend about $5 billion a year online with about a quarter of that going through EBay. The firm’s figures estimated that 11 million Canadians visited the site in August. Read Full Story

The U.S. Mint’s recent campaign to impound the Ron Paul Liberty Dollar as an unlawful impingement on the circulation of American currency may be garnering all the coin-related headlines. But serious coin collectors are monitoring a far lower-profile numismatic flap. Three coin-collecting associations — the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, the International Association of ProfessionalNumismatists and the Professional Numismatists Guild — filed suit earlier this month against the State Department to protest its move in July to restrict imports of ancient coins from the island nation of Cyprus.

The suit, now pending in federal court in Washington, invokes the Freedom of Information Act in an effort to compel State to disclose the documentary record of the decision. Read Full Story